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Aquia Sandstone in Carlyle House and in Nearby Colonial Virginia by Rosemary Maloney

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Aquia Sandstone in Carlyle House and in Nearby Colonial Virginia by Rosemary Maloney Carlyle House August, 2012 D OCENT D ISPATC H Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority Aquia Sandstone in Carlyle House and in Nearby Colonial Virginia By Rosemary Maloney John Carlyle wanted to build an imposing home, and he The source of this tan to light-gray sandstone was wanted to build it of stone, like the great stone houses of familiar to the early settlers of Virginia. A quarry England and Scotland. But comparable stone was not was created there as early as 1650. Today, there available in the Atlantic coastal plain of Virginia. For are still ledges exposed on both sides of Interstate Carlyle the only convenient local source of stone hard 95 near Stafford and along Aquia Creek. This enough for building was the sandstone (or freestone as it stone is suitable for building purposes because of was known in colonial times) from the area around the cementation by silica of its components: Aquia Creek in Stafford County, Virginia, about 35 quartz, sand, and pebbles. But Aquia sandstone miles south of Alexandria. The name Aquia is believed has its flaws. It tends to weather unevenly and to be a corruption of the original Algonquin word therefore is more suitable for interior than exterior “Quiyough,” meaning gulls. construction. Construction of Carlyle House In a letter dated November 12, 1752, to his brother George in England, John Carlyle remarks on the difficulty of building his house in Alexandria. But his frustration is blended with optimism as he writes: “...the Violent Rains we have had this Fall, has hurt the Stone Walls that We Was obliged to Take down A part After it Was nigh its Height, which has been A Loss & great disapointment To me, however Time & patience Will over come all (I am In hopes)...” Apart from this single mention of stone walls, nowhere in the letters to George does John mention Aquia sandstone, or how it was quarried and transported. CARLYLE HOUSE The front façade of the Carlyle House. During the restoration, the Sarah Coster, Site Administrator house was refaced with Kentucky limestone, which wears better Helen Wirka, Site Specialist than the local sandstone. Upon close inspection, you can see the original, darker, stone in the cornice. Lacey Villiva, Education Assistant Page 2 Docent Dispatch The walls of Carlyle House are constructed of intensive and complex process of moving tons of sandstone. The interior surfaces are uncut and rock upstream on the Potomac River. Information unevenly coursed stone, as is evident in the from a later period suggests how this may have been Architecture Room. The west façade, which faces done in colonial times. In 1791, in anticipation of Fairfax Street, consisted of smoothly dressed stone constructing buildings of stone for the new Federal set in a coursed ashlar pattern, or thin rectangles of City, Major Pierre L’Enfant, on behalf of the Federal sandstone. When reconstruction of Carlyle House government, purchased an island in Aquia Creek for a was undertaken prior to the Bicentennial in 1976, it quarry site. Known as Government Island today, the was discovered that the west elevation revealed site is part of the Stafford County park system and is extreme irregularity in the stone dimensions both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. horizontally and vertically. As a result of this Historic markers tell the story of quarrying on irregularity no corner quoins aligned and in fact each Government Island; one marker labeled corner had a different number of quoins. During the “Transporting the Stone” reads: reconstruction the sandstone’s lack of resistance to wind and water also became apparent. As a result, “A historic route...was created by skids of the west façade was replaced with more durable ‘stone boats’ that were loaded with stone and Indiana limestone. dragged by oxen to the wharf...At the wharf stone was loaded onto scows and was then Cutting and Transporting the Stone transported downstream to deeper, more In the colonial period slave labor was used to cut the navigable waters...There stone was transferred heavy stone, transport it to a riverbank, and load it on onto larger sailing vessels called schooners or barges. This is a simple description of a labor- sloops, carried down Aquia Creek, and shipped up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.” After 1791 Aquia sandstone was used in many of the most famous buildings of our nation’s capital. It is also the sandstone used in the boundary stones that mark the original ten-mile-square area of the District of Columbia. Aquia Sandstone in Nearby Colonial Buildings Although John Carlyle built his entire house of Aquia sandstone, the material was used more as decorative elements in other colonial buildings. Aquia Church in Stafford County is located about four miles from the quarry. Construction was completed in 1757. This building, in the form of a Greek cross, is constructed of brick laid in the Flemish bond pattern, a decorative form of bricklaying created by alternate laying of headers and stretchers, favored in colonial architecture. Aquia sandstone is used in the quoins, the door lintels, and the keystones above the window arches. Over the years, dates and initials have been carved in the soft sandstone. A map showing the water route John Carlyle’s “freestone” would have taken to reach Alexandria. Aquia is marked by the yellow flag in the lower corner, Alexandria by the flag Farther north, in Fairfax County, is Pohick Church, so in the upper right. Page 3 Docent Dispatch named because of its proximity to Pohick Creek. The “undertaker,” or contractor, was requested by the original Pohick Church was established some time vestry to take over completion of Christ Church. prior to 1724. In 1767 vestrymen George Carlyle bought a pew in this new Anglican church, but Washington, George Mason, and George William with his Presbyterian upbringing he chose to be buried Fairfax (brother-in-law of John Carlyle) supervised on the grounds of the nearby Presbyterian Meeting the rebuilding of the church in brick. Construction House, another building project in which he was was completed in 1774. Aquia sandstone was used in involved. the quoins, door frames, and steps. Here, too, the sandstone bears carvings of initials and dates. The A Lasting Effect church is located across the road from a boundary of When John Carlyle built his house of Aquia sandstone present-day Fort Belvoir, once part of the estate and he intended to stay in the colonies only temporarily home of William Fairfax, John Carlyle’s father-in- and to return to England after he made his fortune. law. However, as the years passed and events shaped his life and changed his outlook, John Carlyle no longer Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, is not far thought of going home. Eventually he became as from Pohick Church. It was constructed about 1755 American as the stone he had chosen for his splendid to 1760. This fine example of Georgian architecture, home, Carlyle House. built in brick in the Flemish bond design, has quoins of Aquia sandsone. Sources: Building Stones of Our Nation’s Capital. U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, home of George Government Printing Office, 1975. Washington, is also in Fairfax County. According to Conner, Jane H. Birthstone of the White House and Capitol. Dennis J. Pogue, Mount Vernon’s Vice President for Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company Publishers, Preservation, 2005. the steps of The John Carlyle House, Alexandria, Virginia: Restoration Report for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. the Mansion, Fauber Garbee, Inc., Architects. Forest, VA: 1980. the stones Munson, James P., Col. John Carlyle, Gent. A True and Just around the Account of the Man and His House. The Northern Virginia piazza, and Regional Park Authority, 1986. the keystone “The Personal and Family Correspondence of Col. John Carlyle of the of Alexandria, Virginia.” www.nvrpa.org. greenhouse A full list of sources is available in the web version of the article. were of Aquia sandstone. However, Mr. The eastern aspect of Christ Church which Carlyle undertook to build. The quoins, at Pogue notes the corners of the building are highlighted by that “most of glossy white paint. it probably came from Mount Vernon itself, as a vein of the stone is known to have been exposed here in the 18th century and was quarried for local use.” Here in the City of Alexandria, Christ Church is located off North Washington Street. The church uses Aquia sandstone in the quoins, but today these are painted glossy white. In 1772 John Carlyle, as an .
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